It rained the night before and hence I decided to go to Venus Drive for a walk as the chances of finding beetles there are much higher. Besides going there for the beetles, I am also testing out a pop-up flash diffuser as for some unfortunate reasons my camera stopped triggering my external flash just after my photo-shoot at the Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West trip.
The first beetle that I found among the wet vegetation was a Ant-Like Flower Beetle (
Anthelephila cyanea) that was hiding under a leaf. In fact there were several of them under the same leaf.
The next beetle was a Leaf Beetle (
Lema cyanella) which was found in a patch of tall grass. In fact there were several of this beetle in the same location. It is my hope that the National Parks Board (NParks) would leave the spot alone and not send in their grass-cutters to give the place a manicured look.
Near to the
Lema cyanella Leaf Beetle was another Leaf Beetle (
Lema diversa). Notice the interesting looking water droplets from the rain the night before.
Moving further, I was sadden to still find more destruction by wild boars despite the efforts by NParks to cull the wild boar population in the area. This log used to house many Fungus Beetles that I found at Venus Drive.
Looking deeper into the area, I found another fallen log that have several of this Fungus Beetle (
Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus).
Near to the Fungus Beetles was a Net-winged Beetle (
Xylobanellus erythropterus) warming up on a wet leaf.
Very soon I reached the "clearing" area. It is probably a misnomer now as the place does not looked like it was once a clearing area with only fallen trees and open soil area.
Although the place is overran by creepers and bushes, I was still able to find quite a number of beetles at the place. Here's a Darkling Beetle found resting on a leaf instead of the usual rotting log.
Among the tall bushes, I am glad to find a number of this scary looking Ladybird Beetle larvae.
The surprise find at the "clearing" was this Flower Chafer Beetle (
Taeniodera monacha). It remained absolutely still while I was photographing it.
The next beetle was the commonly encountered beetle that one would usually find after rain.
On another plant nearby was a commonly encountered Leaf Beetle (
Graphops curtipennis) at the "clearing".
Resting among the thick bushes was this Ladybird Beetle (
Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata).
On a Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) was a Leaf Beetle (
Argopus brevis).
While "bashing" through the thick vegetation at the "clearing", I am glad to find a number of this white color Ladybird Beetle. This type of beetle is highly alert and would quickly fly off when they sensed movements or changes in light. This remained my favorite beetle to photograph at the "clearing".
Still at the "clearing", I found a tiny 2 mm Leaf Beetle hiding under a leaf. Please pardon the quality of the photograph as I am still trying to get use to macro-photography using the pop-up flash.
After leaving the "clearing", I chanced upon a large fallen log which has some large mushrooms growing on it. Under the cap of a broken mushroom was a 5 mm Fungus Beetle.
While I was photographing the beetle, a jogger stopped and asked me what I am photographing. He later commented that it intrigued him how we managed to find insects to photograph. It suddenly dawn on me that there are many people who may not know how the environment where I found the beetles looked like. I would attempt to show how the environment looked like, given the understanding that I do not compromise the actual locations where I found the beetles. This is to avoid poachers using the information to deplete our beetle populations. Here's a zoomed out view of the Fungus Beetle above.
On a fallen tree log was this Fungus Weevil which remained surprisingly still despite me taking easily twenty photograph of it.
A few centimeters away was a Fungus Beetle which I initially thought that it was the
Eumorphus assamensis Fungus Beetle. Upon closer observation, I noticed that it has 6 yellow spots instead of four.
While moving in the bushes, a brownish insect landed a meter in front of me. I took a good look and found that it is a Fungus Weevil. This beetle was so alert that I only managed to snap this photograph before it flew off.
At a distance I saw a pile of chopped tree trunks and branches and so I quickly moved toward it as I often find different types of beetles living or feeding on such rotting logs. As I approached the tree trunk, I was glad to find this large Jewel Beetle feeding on the log.
On another tree trunk in the pile was this beetle larvae. This particular larvae looked different from the usual beetle larvae, which are lighter in color.
Along the trail path, I found this small 4 mm Click Beetle.
Approaching the original "snow" tree, a Fungus Beetle was found on a leaf.
Going further down the trail, I found an interesting looking beetle larvae. This is the first time I come across this type of beetle larvae.
On a tree nearby, I found this small 5 mm Fungus Beetle.
Higher up the same tree was this Fungus Beetle (
Episcapha quadrimacula) busily feeding on some black color fungus growing on the tree.
Also on the same tree were a number of beetle larvae.
At the base of another tree was this Fungus Beetle.
When I was almost at the exit, I spotted a Darkling Beetle feeding on some fungus..
Coming to a small pile of cut trees, I found this first-time-encountered Click Beetle.
Just a stone's throw from the wood pile mentioned above, was a Tumbling Flower Beetle.
The last beetle was a Ladybird Beetle (
Epilachna admirabilis) resting on a leaf.
The trip was fruitful as I managed to find a number of beetles despite it rained the night before.
